The present invention concerns a manually operated roller device for progressively collapsing tubular containers to expel their viscous contents.
The present tube wringing device is somewhat analogous to that disclosed and claimed in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,213 and a like device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,764 also issued to the present inventor.
In the prior art, as evidenced by the foregoing patents, is a tube wringing device utilizing a pair of cooperating gear-like rollers which jointly act on a collapsible tube to compress same to effect tube discharge. Each roller is carried by a handle frame which frames are pivotally connected for opening and closing movement about a common axis during tube installation and removal. One of said rollers is provided with a turnkey extension by which rotation is imparted to the intermeshed rollers to move a tube therepast with consequent tube flattening. The first mentioned patent relies on manual pressure to retain the rollers in operative, tube collapsing engagement while the second patent discloses a holder for a tube squeezing device which holder includes a latch for adjusted biased engagement with a tube wringer handle. In both patent disclosures, the rollers are rigidly journaled within their respective handle frames. Slight displacement of the rollers is permitted by reason of manual collapsing of the device or a yieldably mounted latch member in the second mentioned patent. While both of the previously disclosed tube wringing devices and the holder for same fulfill their intended purposes, such devices are not suitable for collapsing relatively large tubular containers such as are used for caulking compound, etc. Such tubes are about two inches in diameter and of metal, typically dented or wrinkled to some degree during handling. While slotted keys are available to the purchaser, it is extremely difficult to roll up the tube in view of caulking viscosity and the heavy tube body. Accordingly, a considerable amount of wasted caulking remains within every caulking tube at the completion of its manual squeezing or rolling. The same is true of heavy gauge plastic tubes used for a variety of viscous materials. Previous tube collapsing devices by reason of roller groove configuration are not capable of collapsing such thick walled tubes.
A further disadvantage of using such tubes is the difficulty in running a continuous, uniform bead important to a neat caulking application. Manual squeezing or key rolling of the tube results in unpredictable and uneven tube discharge.